Chapter Ten

Maddy knew it was hopeless to try and concentrate on her book, an Ann Radcliffe she’d thankfully read many times before, when Lady Drake was flouncing around the room, twitching her skirts and fussing with her hair.

The men had retired to smoke and drink in the study, leaving the women in the parlor to their own devices.

Which, apparently, was going to be more painful than she thought, Maddy mused as Lady Drake sighed heavily and marched from one end of the room to the other.

Maddy and Rose had made polite conversation after dinner with the other attendees of the house party, finding them charming and friendly, but Lady Drake was something else altogether.

Finally, Lady Drake settled on the chaise next to Maddy, craning her neck to see what she was reading.

“The Mysteries of Udolpho? Though I’m sure you haven’t finished it, don’t you find it a bit… pedestrian?” She asked, and Maddy fought not to grind her teeth together.

“I’ve actually read it a few times, but I quite like rereading books – it’s like visiting with old friends,” Maddy said in a measured tone. “I don’t find it pedestrian at all, as it stands.”

“And you like it? The story?” Lady Drake asked with a small shudder.

“Of course,” Maddy said evenly. “The writing is wonderful, and I like the gothic feel to it – castles and the supernatural. And who doesn’t love a hero like Valancourt on the page?”

“I found it a bore,” Lady Drake said dismissively.

“What do you find not a bore?” Maddy asked with a bit more bite to her voice than she intended.

“I’m not a great reader. I find I like interacting with people much more than reading about them in dusty tomes,” Lady Drake replied tartly. “Clearly, you prefer your people on the page than in the same room.”

“That’s hardly true,” Maddy said, closing her book and setting it aside. “Tell me, how do you know Lord Carrington? Are you much acquainted?”

“I’ve know Jamie for ages,” Lady Drake said with a slight emphasis on the last word. “We practically grew up together.”

“Now, I find that surprising, as my brother and I grew up on our estate not far from here, and have been long acquainted with the Carrington family, and yet I don’t recall meeting you on any previous occasion.”

“You grew up near here?” Lady Drake asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.

“Yes,” Maddy said with a bite in her voice. “We did.”

“You and… oh, that brother of yours, I suppose,” Lady Drake replied. “He’s tolerably good looking, I suppose.”

Rose practically bolted from her chair, where she had been watching the interaction between the two ladies with interest. “Lord Stafford is much admired in society, and is considered one of the best looking men of our acquaintance, I’ll have you know!”

Lady Drake looked surprised by the outburst. “And yet he is unattached, and at his age. He must have some fatal flaw.”

Rose snorted. “His only flaw, as you put it, is not wanting to marry some chit interested only in his money or his connections in society.”

“As a Viscount, he must hardly have either,” Lady Drake said smoothly, than darted a glance at Maddy. “I mean you no disrespect, of course. I’m sure you’ve done the best in society that you can, under those circumstances.”

Rose made a sound not unlike a squirrel being caught by a cat. “He has plenty of both, and you have no cause to slight Madeline in any way for her standing in society. In fact…”

Maddy cut her off, knowing all too well the murderous rage in her friend’s eyes, and wanting to avoid a catfight of either the verbal or physical variety. “Fitz is a respected member of the ton, but wishes to marry for love, not just connections or standing in society. At one and thirty, he’s hardly in his dotage, and I thank you to remember that when speaking of my excellent brother.”

“Of course,” Lady Drake said demurely. “I meant no disrespect, of course.”

“Of course,” Rose said with a sarcastic edge.

“Besides,” Lady Drake continued. “You aren’t much in society any more, are you, Madeline?” She asked frostily. “If I understand correctly, you have no need to surround yourself with me, as you were married to an officer of the war, were you not?”

“I was,” Maddy said woodenly.

“And where is he, then?” Lady Drake asked. “Is this society too much for him?”

“He’s dead,” Rose said nastily. “He died on the battlefield, and left Madeline a widow, if you must know, and I thank you not to bring it up and aggrieve my friend.”

“Oh dear,” Lady Drake said, looking slightly embarrassed. “I didn’t know. I apologize, Lady Madeline. Still, your standing in society now…”

Maddy threw Rose a cautioning glance and shook her head slightly, and then turned back to Lady Drake while smoothing her own features. “You never truly answered my question, Lady Drake. How are you acquainted with the Carrington family?”

“Well, apparently, we don’t go back as far as you and your ‘excellent’ brother do,” Lady Drake amended her earlier statement, making Rose look peaked again. “We mostly know each other from society – in London, of course.”

“Of course,” Maddy said evenly.

“In fact, we were considered quite the couple before he disappeared for France for those years,” Lady Drake said dreamily. “Now that he has returned, I do hope to become close to him again.”

“I see,” Maddy said faintly.

“Funny,” Rose said with a sharp tone. “Jamie never mentioned you to either Maddy or Fitz, two of his closest friends. Perhaps the… coupling you imagine from London was a bit one sided?”

Lady Drake looked daggers at Rose, who met her gaze without flinching. “I assure you, we always made quite a splash when we were together. In fact, many assumed we would marry before he left.”

“And did he make any declarations before his departure?” Rose asked icily.

“He did not,” Lady Drake said snootily. “But now that we are together again, I’m sure those addresses will be forthcoming presently. We were very close, as I said. I’m a perfect catch for Jamie, and he is for me. With our money, our standing in society, no couple would have more standing or power in the ton.”

“And that’s what he is to you?” Rose asked. “Another rung on the ladder of society?”

“Well, yes,” Lady Drake said smartly. “And, truth be told, he’s a handsome, intelligent man, a wonderful catch for anyone, so why not me? Who wouldn’t want to marry him?”

Who indeed, Maddy thought, feeling her pulse beat in her throat and her eyes grow moist with frustration. She felt herself growing angrier and angrier, without justification, for the familiar way in which Lady Drake was speaking of Jamie.

Her Jamie, as she thought of him, though he was anything but.

And to call him Jamie so familiarly, instead of Lord Carrington, simply annoyed Maddy to no end.

“You never know,” Rose said cryptically. “Perhaps the war has made him a changed man, who sees ladies in a different light now,” she said, glancing supportively at Maddy. “His tastes in women may run to something very different after all he experienced for all those years. And it has been years, has it not, Lady Drake?”

“I very much doubt it,” Lady Drake said. “We’re a perfect match, and I intend to use this house party to remind him of that very fact. Now, if you ladies would excuse me, I believe I’m going to retire for the night. Jamie and I are going riding in the morning, and I want to be fresh for the outing.”

And with that, she strode out of the room, head held high, a mocking smile on her lips.

Maddy sat frozen on the chaise, and Rose shifted to sit down beside her friend, taking Maddy’s hand in hers. “You look as though you are at sixes and sevens. Believe me, that woman,” she said, “is egomaniacal, stupid, unread, and doesn’t hold a candle to you. Lord Carrington would be insane to place value in her, and not in you. You know that, don’t you, my love?”

Maddy nodded automatically, not really agreeing with anything Rose was saying.

“She’s a chit, and she deserves to marry some doddering old blind fool who only wants her for her money. No man would want her for her conversation, and that is a fact.”

Maddy continued to nod repeatedly.

“And I don’t like her. At all.”

At this, Maddy gave Rose a small, grateful smile. “Thank you for all those nice things you said about Fitz and I. I just couldn’t believe some of what she was saying. That she and Lord Carrington go back to birth – what a joke! And yet…”

“And yet?” Rose prodded after Maddy was silent for several beats.

“And yet, he is taking her riding tomorrow, when he’s hardly spoken a word to me,” Maddy whispered, and Rose squeezed her hand. “I’ve had no such invitation, and we’re supposed to be old friends.”

“No one who saw the way he was looking at you at dinner could doubt his affection for you,” she said confidently. “Not that I was watching him watch you watch him,” she added, bumping her shoulder against Maddy’s gently.

Maddy giggled at Rose’s tongue twister. “You are making that up. I’m sure he just had something in his eye.”

“I’m sure he did,” Rose said with a smirk.

“Nonetheless…”

“Nonetheless, I don’t like her. I don’t like cold, calculating ladies, daughters of earls or not.”

“No, nor do I,” Maddy agreed. “Nor do I.”

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